Apparatus for rural mail delivery.



No. 726,958. I PATENTED MAY 5, 1903.

O. S. MALLOW.

APPARATUS FOR RURAL MAIL DELIVERY.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 13, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

1 WITNESSES: d INVENTOR.

w Maw PATBNTED MAY 5, 1903.- 0. s. MALLOW. APPARATUS FOR RURAL MAIL DELIVERY.

APPLICATION PILED'SEPT. 13, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

y IJNVENZ'OR.

A TTORNE K THE Noams virzns co. murmumo, WASHINGTON n z;

UNITED STATES PATE Patented May 5, 1903.

FFICE.

APPARATUS FOR RURAL MAIL DELIVERY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 726,958, dated May 5, 1903.

3 Application filed September 13, 1902. Serial No. 123,234. (No model.)

To alZ whom, it may concern: Be itknown that I, ORVILLE S. MALLOW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington Court-House, in thecounty ofFayette' and State of Ohio,'have invented certain new and useful Improvements in A pparat'us for Rural Mail Delivery, of which the following is a specification, reference being bad thereinby the carrier and the residence of the addressee-so as to facilitate the delivery of mail where these points are widely separated.

To this end my'invention consists in certain novel features which I will now proceed to describe and will then particularly point out in the claims- In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus embodying my invention in one form.

taken on the line was of Fig. 3 and looking in the directionof the arrows. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line y y of Fig. 2 and looking in the'direction of'the arrows. Fig. 4 is a detail plan section taken on the line 2 z of Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is adetail sectional view similar to Fig. 2, illustrating a modification.

In carrying out my invention I propose toemploy an elevated track or way, preferably in the form of a wire stretched between terminal supports, on which wire travels'a letter-box provided with a motor and suitable supporting and propelling wheels, mechan-- ism being provided at the terminal stations to gradually check the travel of the letterbox and receive and hold the same at the end of its journey, andmechanism being also pro-.-

4 b Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional View of the letter-box I have shown-said box as comprising two letter compartments 4 and 5, one of which is provided'with a mail-receiving slot or opening 6 and a'hinged cover7, which may be closed by a suitable lock 8, while the other is simply provided with a hinged cover 9. The first compartment is to receive the mail placed therein by the carrier, while the second compartment is to receive the outgoing mail, which is to be taken away by the carrier. Between the two compartments 4. and 5 is a central compartment 10, inclosed between walls 11 and 12 and containing the mainportion of the spring-motor 13, by means of which the box is rendered self-propelling. This motor comprises a spring barrel 14, mounted loosely on a winding-shaft 15, which extends out through the box to receive a suitable'winding-tool and which is provided with the usual pawl 16 and ratchet 17. The springbarrel 14 contains the usual coiled spring 18,

secured at one end to'the barrel and at the other end to the shaft 15, and said barrel is further provided with a gear-wheel 19, which meshes with a pinion 20 on a shaft 21. Agear 22 moves with the pinion 20'and meshes with a pinion '23 on a shaft 24. A gear 25 moves in unison with the pinion 23i' The propelling and supporting wheels-two in nu mberare represented, respectively, at 26 and27, and in the form of 'the invention shown in Figs. 1 to at of the drawings these propelling and supporting wheels have their shafts 28 and 29 mounted in a longitudinally movable frame 30, supported on guide-pins 31 in a hood 32,extending above the letter-box. This hood is provided with a lateral opening 33 and with end openings3et for the passage of the track-wirel, so that the box may be placed on the wire and removed therefrom as desired. The shaft 28-0f the wheel 26 is provided with a pinion 35, adapted to mesh with the gear 25 when theframe is at the limit of its motion in one direction. The shaft 29 of the wheel 27 is provided withaa pinion 36, which meshes with an idle pinion 37, carried by the frame 30, this idle pinion being adapted to mesh with the gearf25 when the frame 30 is at the limit of its motion in the opposite direction. The longitudinal shifting of the the side wall of the hood 32, said lever being mounted on the outer end of said shaft, while the inner end is provided with an arm 40, which embraces a'pin 41 on the frame 30. The lever 38 is provided with a weight 42, so that it will remain on either side of the perpendicular to which it may be moved. The box is provided with oppositely-extending arms 43 and 44, provided, respectively, with pivoted dogs or hooks 45 and 46, and these hooks are operatively connected with the lever 38 by means of links or rods 47 and 48. Each terminal post 2 is provided with a projection 49, with which the corresponding dog 45 and 46 is adapted to engage. There is also provided at each terminal station a wire 50, lying in the same vertical plane as the trackwire 1, one end of said wire 50 being connected to the track-wire some little distance in advance of the terminal posts, as indicated at 51, while the other end passes over a sheave or grooved pulley 52, supported by the termi nal post some distance above the track-wire 1, said other end of the wire 50 being connected to one end of a coiled spring 53, the other end of which is connected to the terminal post,

as indicated at 54.

Themotor comprises a suitable governor by means of which excessive speed is prevented, and any approved type-of governor may be employed for this purpose. I have shown a centrifugal governor 55, mounted on a shaft 56, driven from the motor, said governor acting to press a friction-disk 57, splined on the shaft 56 against a fixed friction-disk 58.

The apparatus thus constructed operates in the following mannerz'lt being assumed that the parts are in the position shown, the letter-box is traveling toward the terminal post 2, the gear 25 being in mesh with the pinion 28, and the supporting and propelling wheel 26 rotating in the direction indicated by the arrow, the lever 38 is thrown over into sucha position that the dog or hook 45 is adapted to engage with the projection 49, which lies in its line of travel. As the lettor-box approaches the terminus the wheel 26 rides upon the wire 50. The letter-box is provided with guide-wheels 59, located underneath the track-wire 1, and these guidewheels engage with the under side of said track-wire, so as to prevent the box from running up on the wire 50. This causes the wire 50 to bedepressed, said wire traveling over the sheave 52 and assuming a position parallel with the Wire 1, while the spring 53 yields to permit this operation. The wire 50 and spring 53 thus act as a buffer to gradually decrease the velocity of the box as it approaches the terminus, so that when the dog 45 comes into, contact with the projection 49 it engages the same and locks the box against the tendency of the spring 53 to force it away from the terminal post 2. Assuming that this post is located at the point where the carrier delivers the mail, the box will remain there until the carrier removes the outgoing mail from one compartment and places in the other compartment, which is locked, the mail to be delivered at the other end of the route. The position of the lever 38 is then reversed by throwing it over, whereupon the hook 45 will be disengaged from the projection 49, while at the same time the frame 30 will be so shifted as to bring the idle pinion 37 into mesh with the gear 25, at the same time moving the pinion 28 out of mesh with said gear. The motor will then impart a rotary motion to the wheel 27 in a direction opposite to that in which the wheel 26 was previously driven,so that the letter-box will start upon its journey to the station at the other end of the line. In this movement it will be assisted by the action of the spring 53, which will impart to it a considerable initial impulse. At the other end of the line the same series ofoperations takes place, but reversely, the hook 46 engaging with. the projection at that end and the-reversal of direction of the travel being accomplished by shifting the lever 38 over to its original position.-

It will of course be understood. that the spring may be wound up when necessary, so as to provide the desired motive force, and that the governor will prevent excessive speed during the operation of the device.

The construction is such that when the box is held stationary the friction of the wire 50 against the propelling-wheel with which it is in contact is sufficient to act as a brake upon the motor and prevent any movement of the same.

I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise details of construction hereinbefore described, and shown in the accompanying drawings, as it is obvious that these details may be modified without departing from the principal of my invention. For instance, instead of employing the longitudinally-movable frame 30 and shifting the supporting and propelling wheels alongthe said frame I may employ the construction shown in Fig. 5, in which the wheels 26 and 27 are mounted in fixed bearings and provided, respectively, with bevelpinions 61 and 62. These mesh with corresponding bevel-pinions 63 and 64 on a longitudinal shaft 65, on which is splined a sleeve 66, engaged by the arm 40, the shaft 65 being mounted in fixed hearings in arms 60. ranged bevel-gears 67 and 68 secured at its opposite ends, either one of which may be brought into mesh with a bevel-gear 69 on a vertical shaft 70, said shaft having a bevelgear 7l,which meshes with a bevel-gear 72, corresponding to the driving-gear 25. In this way the direction of motion may be changed by the shifting of-the sleeve 66 without any longitudinal movement of the remaining parts.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. A mail-delivery apparatus, comprising an elevated way and aletter-box provided with The sleeve 66 has oppositely-ar-' a spring-motor and having two supporting and propelling-wheels to fit the way, said motor being adapted to be connected to either one of said propelling-wheels at will, and actuating said wheels in opposite directions respectively when so connected, substantially as described.

2. A mail-delivery apparatus, comprising an elevated way, a letter-box provided with two supporting and propelling wheels located in line with each other and adapted to fit said way, a spring-motor carried by the letter-box and having a gear-train terminating in a driving-gear, and means for connecting either one of said propelling-wheels with said drivinggear, the driving connections between said wheels and gear being such that their direction of rotation is opposite, substantially as described.

3. A mail-delivery apparatus, comprising an elevated way, a letter-box provided with a spring-motor having a driving-gear train terminating in a driving-gear, and a frame longitudinally movable relatively to the letterbOX, said frame being provided with two supporting and propelling wheels arranged in line with each other, one of said wheels being provided with apinion to mesh directly with the driving-gearin one position of the frame, and the other propelling-wheel being provided with a pinion and idle pinion, the latter meshing with the driving-gear in the other position of the frame, and means for shifting said frame longitudinally, substantially as described.

4. In a mail-delivery apparatus, the combination, with an elevated way, of a letter-box provided with a spring-motor having a geartrain terminating in a driving-gear, a longi tudinally-movable frame mounted in the letter-box, supporting and propelling wheels mounted in said frame, and each provided with gearing which may be engaged with the driving-gear, said gearing being adapted to rotate said propelling-wheels in opposite directions respectively, a shaft mounted in the letter-box and having an arm to engage and operate said frame longitudinally, and a weighted lever secured to said shaft externally of the letter-box and adapted to swing by gravity to either side of the perpendicular and to shift and hold the frame, substantially as described.

5. A mail-delivery apparatus, comprising an elevated wire and terminal supports having engaging projections, a letter-box provided with a spring-motor and two propelling-wheels adapted to be rotated in opposite directions by said motor, a lever and connecting mechanism for operatively connecting either one of said propelling-Wheels with the motor, dogs or hooks for engaging the projections at the respective terminal supports, and connecting devices between said lever and dogs or hooks, whereby the movement of said lever serves to simultaneously disengage the dog or hook and connect the motor with the propelling-wheel which moves the box away from the terminal, substantially as described.

6. In a mail-delivery apparatus, the combination, with an overhead track-wire, a terminal support, and a diverging bulfer-wire connected with the track-wire under tension, of a letter-box provided with a spring-motor, a propelling-wheel driven thereby and adapted to ride up on the buffer-Wire, means for engaging the under side of the track-wire to prevent the box from rising at the terminal, and means for engaging and holding the letter-box at the terminal, whereby the bufier= wire serves as a brake, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

ORVILLE S. MALLOW. Witnesses:

J. D. Pos'r, W. M. OLAwsoN. 

